The Machlis Family

B"H

Those of you who are planning a trip to Jerusalem should never leave the city without having spent a Shabbat meal at the Machlis family. This is an absolute must.

I know the Machlises for almost 12 years and they have been doing their Chesed work for over 25 years. For more than 25 years, the family has been organizing Shabbat meals. Every Shabbat throughout the year except on Pessach. Can you imagine having at least 80 guests every Friday night (Erev Shabbat) and for lunch on the next day ? Now they also give a third Shabbat meal (Se'udat Shlishit) including Rabbi Machlis teaching.

Who is this family spending their Shabbes with mostly strangers, tourists, seminary girls, Yeshiva guys and the homeless ?

More than 25 years ago, Rabbi Mordechai and his wife Henny made Aliyah and settled in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Maalot Dafna (right behind Yeshivat Ohr Sameach). The Rabbi and his wife are originally from New York and both were born into rabbinic families. Today, both are in their 50ies, have 14 children and countless grandchildren.

A typical Machlis - Shabbat works like this:
You arrive and everyone waits in front of their door until the Rabbi opens. Every Friday night, Rabbi Mordechai Machlis stands in the doorway and greets every guest personally. It doesn't matter if you are invited, if you are Jewish or not, if you are rich, poor, old, young, student, sad, happy, depressed, married, single, nothing matters because everyone is welcomed. And I am not just saying this. The Machlises are the only people I have ever met who don't just say something and dump the food on your plate: "I did my Chesed - now where is Olam Habah (World to Come)". No, the Machlises really mean it and you can feel it as soon as you enter their house.

Many former guests told me that Rabbi Mordechai Machlis must be one of the 36 Zaddikim holding up the world or being the potential Meshiach. There simply is no other explanation. Everyone just walks into their living room, even during the week. The Machlises never lock their door and once the Rabbi told us that when he got up at 2 o'clock at night, he found a strange woman sitting in the kitchen eating. She told him that she is very sorry but that she hasn't eaten for the past two days. The Rabbi wished her a nice meal and went back to sleep.


Rabbi Mordechai Machlis

The family helps and receives anyone with respect. It doesn't matter if you are a student or homeless. Just look at the guy who seems to be schizophrenic and wears a towel around his head all the time. If you see such a person in the street you look at him and think: "What kind of a nutcase is this ?"

The Machlises receive him with respect and he sometimes even sits at the Rabbi's table. It is probably the only place in the world where everyone is referred to with respect. Usually people invite friends, relatives or people just being like them for Shabbat. Who would invite the guy with the towel or an alcoholic ?

We have the Machlises in town and everybody knows that there is always a place on Shabbat for him. "Just go to the Machlises".
"Come in, come in, there is plenty of room", the Rabbi likes to say. No one is turned down and the great miracle is that all guests do fit into the living room. And if not, the Rabbi sets up tables on the porch. During he winter he even put heaters out on the porch because he didn't want his guests to be cold. The Rabbi gives teachings during the meal and his wife Henny as well as his daughters Avigail, Yael, Tamar, Batsheva or Sarah help out in the kitchen. One of his sons, Yehoshua, helps serving the food.
And the food, you cannot nearly imagine the delicious Tsholent, the Kugel, the salads. And I personally have to thank the Machlis family for putting out the red tomatoe - garlic sauce which I love.

Throughout the meal, people can get up and teach something. "In the spirit of Shabbat", as the Rabbi likes to add. The most popular teachings are from Henny Machlis, as she loves to tell chassidic stories and compare them to today.
Many of my friends I found at the Shabbatot at the Machlis home. And who doesn't know characters such as Ron Ovadiah who likes to sing "We don't need no education", Evelyn Heyes from Kever Rachel, Baruch screaming his teachings, Sarah Shir El - the woman with the shiny clothes but giving incredible blessings or Channah the doctor, healing everyone. Well, almost everyone.

If you are a stranger in Jerusalem, you should definitely find your way to the Machlises and spend at least one Shabbat there. Afterwards you might not be lonely anymore, as it is so easy to meet people.

And after all this talk I am getting to the point which is, as you can surely imagine, money. The Machlises spend basically their whole income for the Shabbat guests and support other people in need. You could say that maybe they shouldn't do it so often anymore but then you don't know the Rabbi. He is pure Chesed and you could never ask him to lock his door in front of a needy person. Forget about that.

Some time ago, someone built a Website for the Machlises in order to make them more known and that people can donate. Every Shabbat meal costs a few thousand Shekels and usually the family managed to get along. But now prices in Israel are going up and the Dollar is declining and therefore, they depend on more donations.

If anyone can afford spending a few Dollar, Euros or whatever it would be great if you could support the Machlis Family. It is very hard to explain to people who have never seen the Shabbatot at the Machlises, what kind of Chesed they do. Everyone knows the famous Yeshivot such as Aish HaTorah or Ohr Sameach and donates plenty of money to them. But who knows about the daily Chesed in Jerusalem ?

Just have a look at the Machlis - Website for further details or find them on FACEBOOK.

http://machlis.org/

e - mail: chesedlorchim@yahoo.com

Even a small donation would be highly appreciated and can insure the continuation of the Shabbat meals.